Labor import

Statistical data show that, in recent years, labor import has increased in Romania

Corina Cristea, 02.05.2025, 13:52

Statistical data show that, in recent years, labor import has increased in Romania, a phenomenon that is quite common, in fact, in other European countries. If ten years ago, approximately 20 thousand non-EU workers were accepted in Romania, now their number is much higher. Because, while continuing to be the largest exporter of labor in the Union, Romania, in turn, approves, year after year, a considerable number of work permits for non-EU workers, mainly Asians.

“The labor crisis at the national level is a reality,” say representatives of the Ministry of Labor in Bucharest, who also indicate the areas that register a shortage of workers, namely construction, courier services, trade, or restaurants. The quota of newly admitted foreign workers on the domestic labor market is established towards the end of the year, after discussions with the business environment, and after an analysis of the occupancy rate of the previously granted work permit quota.

Violeta Alexandru, former Minister of Labor, spoke on Radio Romania about the presence of non-EU workers on the Romanian labor market, but also about what the Romanian state gains from their arrival:

“It is a necessity, their arrival covers some areas where there is a need for labor. They do us good in the sense that, through their work, we have access to some services that we need, in the courier area, in the transportation area, many of them are drivers, we need these services, and they come and perform work that translates into our access to those services. Construction comes first. What does the state collect from the budget? Contributions are paid, they contribute practically to everything that the budget means for pensions, for health, they pay tax on the work they carry out depending on the agreement we have with the state they come from.”

Most non-EU workers who came, in 2024, to work in Romania were from Nepal, Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh. For 2025, a quota of 100 thousand newly admitted foreign workers on the Romanian labor market has been established, a number that has remained unchanged for three years, and the Ministry of Labor estimates that the number of those employed or temporarily deployed in Romania this year would represent approximately 1.25% of the total labor force in the country. Non-EU workers come to Romania through companies, the procedures are very clear, and if the non-EU worker expresses their willingness to stay for work in Romania or finds work elsewhere, with another employer, all the steps must be taken by this next employer, so that the General Inspectorate of Immigration always has a picture of these movements of workers from one employer to another, Violeta Alexandru also specifies.

Is Romanian society affected by the arrival of non-EU workers? Sociologist Dan Petre explains:

“Without a doubt, it is affected, primarily because it is a phenomenon that has not been present before. We have never faced anything like this before, and we are learning how to coexist with such large segments of people who come from other cultures. It is possible that our famous hospitality will be somewhat put to the test. Things will be strongly influenced by the economic situation, by how the economy will evolve in the upcoming period, and whether we will go in a direction in which society will rather have certain absorption difficulties, and have behaviors that are more likely to reject them or, on the contrary, to integrate them into society with greater ease. Things are still developing, it is very difficult to say at this point in which direction things will go.”

The situation in Romania is by no means unique, says Cosmin Boiangiu, executive director of the European Labour Authority:

“At the European level, we notice the same thing in all European states – the increase in the number of workers from third countries, chronic labor shortages in many sectors: road transportation, construction, the hospitality industry, logistics, the care sector. It is an increasingly big problem. The rules that each state makes according to its own needs must, first of all, be well applied. Because, speaking of Romania, it is important that workers who are brought to Romania to serve the interests of the economy remain in Romania, not be re-exported to other states, under false pretenses.”

With Romania’s entry into Schengen, some non-EU workers are moving further west for higher salaries, according to representatives of foreign personnel recruitment agencies, who say that in June 2024, less than two and a half months after Romania’s entry into Schengen with airspace, approximately 35-40% of foreign workers had already left the country. And the number is probably increasing, once Romania has joined Schengen with land borders as well.